Valve



,1943.' Kgb. NELSON 2,313,257

VALVE Filed May 5, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR KARL O. NELSON BY MEmmi ATTORNEY March 9, 1943. K, o. NELSON 2,313,257

VALVE Filed May 5, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 "iii- E ,22 24 INVENTOR KARL 0.NELSON 35 M O. TMA

F ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 9, 1943 VALVE Karl O.-Nelson, Milwaukee, Wis.,

halt to Henry J. Wis.

assignor of one- Nunnemacher, Milwaukee,

Application May 5, 1941, Serial No. 391,915

1 Claim.

The invention relates to multi-port valves.

The general object of the invention is to provide a balanced andshockproof multi-port valve. More particularly, I have provided what maybe termed a rotary piston valve wherein the ports of the valve are soarranged as to balance the action of the pressure fluid upon the valvein all directions and wherein the clearance between the valve and itscasing is so small that the valve will not be injured by shock that maybe occasioned on the opening of the valve under high pressures. Thevalve is further arranged so that the heads of its casing are relievedof any possible high pressure strains that might otherwise develop.

The invention further consists in the several features hereinafterdescribed and more particularly set forth in the claim at the conclusionhereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a valve embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detailed transverse sectional view taken on the line 3-3 ofFig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a detailed transverse sectional view taken on the line 4-4 ofFig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a'detailed sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a detailed sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view of an hydraulic circuit that may becontrolled by a valve embodying the invention.

Referring to the drawings, the valve includes a valve member I formed asa straight cylindrical piston mounted to rotate in a casing I l formedof a cylindrical body l2 and end caps I3 and I4 each secured influid-tight relation with the body by a gasket l and screws IS. The capI4 has a centrally disposed bore I! through which the stem or operatingprojection I8 of the valve projects and which is sealed against anyleakage due to seepage along the stem by a stuffing box IS including thepacking 20. The exposed end of the stem I8 is squared for receiving anoperating means (not shown) such as a handle, gear, or any othersuitable manual or power actuator that may be used to turn the valve.

The valve body I2 hasan inletport 2 I, an exhaust port 22 and one ormore ports 23 connecting with the apparatus to be controlled, each ofthese ports being at a difierent level of the body I2. The body [2 alsohas a longitudinally extending bleed passage 24 drilled or otherwiseformed therein intersecting the port 22 and connected at its ends byshort cross ports or grooves 25 with short grooves 26 formed in the endcaps l3 and I4, respectively.

The valve member ID has an annular groove 21 formed therein positionedfor continuous registry with the inlet port 2! in any position of thevalve. This groove acts to equalize the pressures that might be exertedby the incoming pressure fluid tending to shift said valve lengthwise inits casing, so that the valve will be balanced as respects lengthwiseexerted pressures. For balancing the valve against the action of lateralpressures the port or passage 28 which communicates with the inlet andthe device to be controlled extends diametrically across the valve Inand is connected to the inlet or lengthwise pressure balancing groove 21by a port 29 here shown as formed by part of a bore extending lengthwisefrom one end of the valve and whose outer end is closed oil by a plug30. Since with this construction the groove 21 balances the valveagainst endwise movement and the passage 28 against lateral movement dueto the pressure fluid, the valve is balanced against unbalancedpressures in all directions. The clearance between the valve member I 0and bore of the casing I2 is very small, theseparts being fitted towithin one ten-thousandth of an inch or less, so that there is verylittle seepage of the pressure fluid along the valve, but such seepageas does occur is prevented from backing up against the heads of thecasing by providing the bleed passages 26, 25, and 24 previouslyreferred to. Thus the heads l3 and M are relieved of any high pressureloads, and the valve will not be injured by shocks which may occur inknown forms of valves on the opening of the valve under high pressure.

The exhaust port 22 is adapted to be brought into communication witheither of th passages 23, one at a time, by a. transfer groove formed inthe valve ill by a circumferentially extending groove 3| in line withthe port 22 and grooves 32 communicating therewith and extending atright angles thereto so as to bring their outer ends 33 into aregistering level with the ports 23. Thus with this arrangement when itis desired, for example, to control both ends of an hydraulic cylinder,such as cylinder 34 in Fig. '7, the valve l0 may be rotated so as tobring the port 23 connected by piping 35 with one end of said cylinderwith the port 28, and under these conditions the part 33 of the exhaustgroove will be in registry with the port 23 connected by piping 36 tothe other end of the cylinder with the result that hydraulic fluid isintroduced at one end of the cylinder 34 and exhausted from the other,so that the piston 31 working therein will be moved lengthwise thereof.If it is desired to stop the movement of the piston, the valve is movedto the "lapped" position shown in Fig. 3 wherein the inlet and exhaustpassages on the valve member are out of registry with the cooperativeports in the casing Ii.

The groove 3i preferably extends entirely around the valve, and thisacts to provide an oil film for the valve which because of the veryclose clearances used acts as a seal during its operation.

While a four-way valve has been shown and described, it is obvious thatthe omission of one of the ports 23 provides a three-way valve and thatthe valve may be formed to take care of more than two ports to becontrolled and that the invention is not to be otherwise limited exceptonly in so far as such limitations are included in the claim.

What I claim as my invention is:

In a valve, the combination of a casing provided with a straightcylindrical bore, a cylindritending port connected to said annular portand alineable with said port for the work to be controlled and acting tohydraulically balance the valve against any tendency of the pressurefluid to move th valve laterally, said ports in said valve serving toconnect said inlet port with the port for the work to be controlled onthe rotation of said valve to a selected position, said valve alsohaving a port in its outer surface extending axially and lengthwisethereof to connect the port for the work to be controlled with saidexhaust port.

KARL 0. NELSON.

